1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a floor panel in a vehicle.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-111558, filed Apr. 20, 2007, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a known floor panel in a vehicle, which is developed for improving the rigidity thereof, a plurality of beads, each having an arc form, are coaxially arranged over almost the entire surface of the floor panel (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2006-298076).
During movement of the vehicle, flying objects such as small stones, which are dislodged by the front wheels of the vehicle, may hit against the lower surface of the floor panel.
In the above bead-arranged floor panel, when such flying objects hit against an inclined surface of the beads, the hitting angle is larger in comparison with a hitting against a horizontally-arranged flat floor panel. Therefore, a larger impact (i.e., reactive force) occurs, and the relevant objects may scrape off the coating on the inclined surface, which may cause rust.